The Ghost Box Read Online Free PDF

it?”
    The boy was still for a moment. Then his shoulders sagged. “Yes.”
    Sarah said, “But you told me ...”
    â€œIt was all true, what I told you. Only that the curse was not for all time. It was just until I could get someone to open this, and take my place.” His voice was sullen and miserable. “And I nearly did.”
    She stared at him in horror. “You would have let that happen? To me?”
    He shrugged and a fragment of mud fell from his shoulders to the floor. “Why should I care who it was? You, him, anyone would do. I’d be free! Free from haunting this darkness, from this terrible cold place! All night I lie in the leaves and the tree sways above me and there’s no one!”
    She watched him, half angry, half sorry for him. Then she looked at the box, and at Morgan Rees. “What can we do? There has to be something we can do. If it’s a spell, surely it can be broken?”
    â€œIt’s possible.” Morgan Rees said, looking at Sarah. “But it will be a risk. Both for you and your brother.”
    â€œHe’s not my brother!”
    The tall man frowned. “But I thought ...”
    â€œStep-brother.” Matt’s voice was quiet. “What do you mean, risk? And why us?”
    Rees looked grave. “The box is made to hold only one soul. It cannot hold two. If two people open it together, strong in their trust in each other, then the spell would be broken. The curse would shiver into nothingness. Or so I believe ...”
    Sarah was dismayed. “You’re not sure?”
    â€œNot ... completely sure. But it is all I can suggest.”
    She felt confused and unhappy. She said, “Yes, but the trouble is that Matt and I ... well, we’re not ...”
    Her words dried up. She didn’t know how to finish. For a moment there was silence, and then she heard the boy sigh. He stood and moved back out of the light, a shadow at the window. He looked out at the moon-lit fields and hills. “I was only a pickpocket. I didn’t deserve this. But it’s up to you, Sarah.”
    She was silent for a moment. Then she took her bathrobe, wrapped it around herself and tightened the belt. She walked over to Matt and looked right into his face. “I’m sorry. About ... being so horrible. Even though that Goth stuff is stupid.”
    â€œI’m sorry you were, too.” He grinned. “And I’m sorry about what I said. But do you really want to try this, Sarah? Because if we mess up, one of us might be the ghost that haunts this house for the next hundred years.”
    She glanced over at the boy, his pale, hopeless face.
    â€œI’m ready if you are.”
    For a moment Matt was still. Then he turned to Morgan Rees. “All right,” he said in a quiet voice. “Tell us what to do.”

Chapter 10
    Together
    In the garden the wind had dropped. The moon lit the smooth lawns, and the air was so cold that Sarah’s breath frosted around her face. She was glad for her thick coat and boots.
    She looked behind her. The boy stood in the shadows of the house, leaning against the wall, watching. Out here he seemed more frail and helpless than ever. She was sure she could see the bricks of the wall through his body.
    Morgan Rees came past her carrying the box. He walked out to a place on the frosty grass and said, “This will do.”
    Matt came up behind her. They watched in silence.
    The tall man put on his glasses and read the Latin words again, turning the box in the silvery light. He said, “Do you have the key?”
    Sarah held it up.
    â€œThen you must unlock it together.”
    She didn’t move.
    To her surprise, Matt held out his hand.
    â€œFriends?” he said.
    For a moment she hesitated. A sliver of soreness rose in her mind, the pain of memory. Her life as it used to be, just her and Mom, chatting, having fun, being on their own. She had loved it. Then she thought of Mom